Entries in banana
(3)

I started talking and threatening myself the other day “No more bananas for ‘these people’ around here. No one ever eats them, all they do is turn brown.”

And then I realized the banana conspiracy that’s been transpiring. ‘Those people’ are doing this on purpose. I buy bananas at the beginning of the week. There’s usually about three left towards the end of the week (that magic mashed cup) that have started to turn brown, so come Saturday morning I’m having my banana stare down wondering what to make.

Then Sunday arrives, the house is full for “Sunday lunch” which usually is “Sunday early dinner” and the banana-whatever-I’d-made has been devoured. Ha, I’m on to all of you now! So there!!

Whisk dry ingredients together in a medium bowl, set aside. Mix bananas and coconut together in a small bowl, set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a flat paddle beat butter on high speed for one minute. Reduce speed to medium, add sugar ½ cup at a time. Beat for 5-8 minutes until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape side of bowl frequently. Reduce speed to low, add vanilla. Keeping the speed on low, alternate adding the bananas in two batches, then flour, then sour cream. Mix until just combined and smooth. Fill lined pan with a scant ½ cup of batter. Bake for 18-20 minutes. Let cupcakes cool completely on a wire rack before icing.

To make the icing:

Whisk the confectioner’s sugar and cocoa powder together in a small bowl

Beat mascarpone, butter and vanilla together in a medium bowl on medium speed until smooth using a hand mixer. Reduce speed to low and add sugar mixture in stages (so you don’t have a sugar cloud in the kitchen). Continue beating until combined and fluffy.

These couldn’t be easier to make and quick. My usual kitchen conundrum of “what in the hell am I going to do with those damn bananas?” stared me in the face once again. So, I went through my own recipe archives and with a little cutting and pasting, mashing and whipping I came up with these little babies. My son, Luke, declared them “the most delicious thing he’s had for dessert ever,” ousting Baked Chocolate Cream from its long standing number one position in the dessert charts. There you have it. Don’t over bake them or they will come out dry. I used pre-made mini graham cracker tartlet shells to expedite the quickness, but you could very easily make your own, or even make a larger tart. A dollop of whipped cream would really dress these up nicely.

Makes 8 tartlets

Ingredients

2 very ripe bananas

8 oz cream cheese – room temperature

1 egg – room temperature

¼ cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

¼ semi-sweet chocolate pieces

Preheat oven to 325°F. Beat cream cheese, egg, sugar, and vanilla in a medium bowl until creamy using an electric mixer, about 3-5 minutes. Beat the bananas in a small bowl until relatively smooth, add to cream cheese mixture, and beat on low until fully incorporated.

Stir in the chocolate pieces. Drop a ¼cup of banana cream cheese mixture into each tartlet shell. Place shells on a baking tray and bake for 10 minutes, the sides should be firm and middle still soft and wobbly.

1st in rich and creamy division of the Hilton Head Wine and Food Fest Pie Competition sponsored by the Junior League of Savannah

Banana’s Foster Custard Pie

Makes one 9 or 10 inch pie

Here’s the recipe as promised. A couple of things...this is easy but a bit fiddley with the different parts. Be careful with the custard, you don't want to end up with vanilla tasting scrambled eggs...blich. Make sure the bananas are very firm...they will turn to mush when cooking if they are not. You can make and assemble this the day before you want to serve it.Just wait until an hour or so before hand to top it with the sour cream mixture.

Ingredients

For the custard

2 cups whole milk

1 cup whipping cream

1-teaspoon vanilla extract

¾ cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

2 egg yolks

6 tablespoons cornstarch

For the bananas

3 tablespoons butter

¼ cup light brown sugar

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

Pinch of salt

1-teaspoon vanilla extract

2 firm bananas, no spots

3 tablespoons dark rum

For the crème fraiche topping

1 cup sour cream*

3 Tablespoons whipping cream

Whisked together until smooth and creamy

* I like Daisy Brand - even the "lite" is rich and creamy

For the pie crust

2 cups all purpose flour

2 eggs

½ cup butter – cut into cubes

Pinch of salt

Make the Pie Crust

Process all ingredients together in the bowl of a food processor for 30 seconds.If the dough does not form a rough shape, add a little ice water by tablespoon.Turn dough out onto a floured board, shape in a disk and roll out. Bake crust blind at 350F until it loses it's sheen (about 20 minutes) before assembling.

Make the custard

Whisk eggs, yolks, sugar and cornstarch in a large bowl until smooth, set aside.Heat milk, cream and vanilla in a saucepan until simmering.Whisk half of the cream mixture into eggs. Pour eggs mixture back into milk.Stirring constantly, cook over low heat until it bubbles and thickens.Make sure you reach the sides of the saucepan so the custard does not stick and scorch.Pour custard into a clean bowl, cover surface with cling film to prevent a “skin” forming.

Prepare the bananas

Slice the bananas in ¼ inch pieces.Melt the butter and sugar in a skillet over medium heat.Stir in the vanilla and cinnamon; continue cooking and stirring until the sugar dissolves.Place the bananas in the sauce, coat pieces with the sauce and cook until soft and beginning to brown, about 3-4 minutes.Pour rum over bananas and allow to heat.Ignite sauce with a long lighter and let flame.When flames die out, cook for 1 minute longer, remove from heat

Assemble pie

Spread ¼ of the custard mixture into the pie shell.Arrange banana slices on top of custard.Spread remaining custard on top of bananas.Chill for at least 2 hours.Before serving, remove wrap, spoon crème fraiche on top of custard.Serves 6-8